Church celebrates first anniversary

Pastor Dean Dumont and his wife Carlena celebrated the first anniversary of Potter’s House Church with an open house Dec. 2.

The congregation at Potter’s House Church is celebrating its first anniversary on Dec. 19.

Having led three churches previously, pastor Dean Dumont and his wife Carlena have a vision for church planting and jumped at the opportunity to reach out to local residents.

“People need hope and refuge,” said Dean. “The church is a hospital, it’s a place to get help from Jesus. We encourage people to come to church and listen to the word, and the word of God changes them.”

The local Pentecostal congregation at Potter’s House is connected with a mother church in Chilliwack as well a growing worldwide fellowship with over 2,015 churches in 85 countries. The church emphasizes the importance of evangelism, discipleship, prayer, family and God’s supernatural power.

“We’re not here to step on anybody’s toes,” said Carlena. “We just want to love people and see them come in and have their lives changed. I don’t want people to be scared of us – we are real people. We just have a vision to see souls saved and see the church grow.”

Despite having a small congregation, Potter’s House has had about 200 visitors in the last year. The church hosted three bands in Memorial Park over the summer and regularly has free movie nights on Friday. Members also go out on Friday nights to talk with people in the community.

“We take the gospel to the streets,” said Dean. “It gives people a chance to receive the word.”

Service times are Wednesday nights at 7 p.m., and Sundays at 11 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. Each service includes a time of worship, offering, prayer requests, sermon, and an alter call, followed by fellowship with coffee and snacks. There is also a nursery for kids available.